Lively Dying
by Emptyflower
Summary: I takes place after Thirteen learns she has Huntington's disease. She tries to deal with the news and drags Cameron into her mess. There will be romance intertwined with angst. Written from Thirteen's point of view.


The paper came out of the machine. The test was positive.

A millstone came around my neck. My worst fears had come true and my sentence of death would soon come along with it.

I felt blank. It was like if every part of me had just felt the life leaving it.

I stared at the results making sure they were real. I started imagine multiple _scenarii_ for them to be wrong. For few minutes, I tried to look for some hope. When I had worn out my imagination, I started to feel again. Fear and sadness made their way to my motionless body. I quickly stood up, blocked the emotions before they took power over me and left the room.

I walked quickly toward the entrance of the big building that was the hospital, hoping not to see anybody I knew. I especially wanted to escape House. I was not in a mental state to deal with his sharp mind. I was not in a state to deal with anybody, even myself.

I needed booze. Some good, strong alcohol to block my mind from thinking and maybe make me feel alive, if that was still possible.

I ended up in the nearest bar. It was a small, smelly place where you could mostly see medical or nursing students, du to the distance from the hospital.

Usually, I hated going in this kind of bars since going to a bar was a way to escape the hospital. I spent so much time at this place with the same people that I did not like to spend my time off with them. Plus, I preferred minimizing the chances to come face to face with an old one night stand who did not get the message straight. But tonight, I just needed a drink and I did not care who were around me.

I sat on a stool, in front of the barmaid, and ordered a tequila shot. I quickly downed the little glass, put it back on the counter and made it slide toward the barmaid, in sign for him to fill it up again. I repeated this pattern few more times until my head started to feel blurry. I loved this sweet feeling the alcohol gave me and I intended to keep it for a while. The barmaid watched me intently as a small smile came to creep on my face. I grinned at him, rising my empty glass. "Seems like it was a hard day", he stated. I did not reply but nodded to signify I heard him, while sliding my glass toward him again. He poured some more amber liquor in my glass and added "You should be careful when all the alcohol kicks in." I downed my newly full glass in the blink of an eye. The sympathetic man in front of me put his hand on my left hand, which was lying on the counter, and patted it. "I won't give you a refill or you won't survive it". A smirk still on my face, I replied without a frown, "I will die anyway". The guy gave me a startled look which quickly turned into a pity one. He then gave me an apologetic smile before turning his attention toward another customer. This made me need a new shot but I was not willing to confront his pity again. I turned on my stool and scanned the room to see if I saw any guy or girl who could make me forget all of this. As I was examining a cute girl who seemed very sensual, someone pushed the door and entered the place. I turned my now unstable gaze to see a doctor I knew. This was Cameron. She used to be one of House's fellows and it made me uncomfortable. I really did not want House to know how pitiful I was at the moment or how I would be later… I turned back on my stool, hoping she would not recognize me. After all, we did not really know each other. Why would she come to talk to me ?

"Hi" said a soft voice from behind me.

"Fuck", I cannot help murmuring to myself, quietly enough for Cameron not to ear it. The encounter I wanted to escape was happening. I knew I should not have come into a "hospital bar". While turning to face the blond lady, I made a mental note to myself to remember this incident and never put a foot into this bar again. "Hi", I replied with the most charming grin I could managed to do. I was planning not to show her how screwed up I was.

"I don't often see you outside of work", she said in an attempt to start a conversation. Feeling it was kind of lame since she had no reason to see her outside of the hospital, she added in stuttering "Actually, we never see each other outside of work since we are not really friends."

Cameron gaucheness made me smile. At least, I was not the only one uncomfortable here. "Yeah. Never had the time to chat", I replied to make her know I get what she said. "House is a full time job", I added with a smirk.

She smiled, making one of her big naïve grin. "You're so right ! I'm so relieved I don't have to put on with his crap everyday", she added before laughing. Her laugh was crystalline. It felt really refreshing to my ear.

"I'm trying to ignore him as much as I can", I stated. I was screening her and realised she might be more interesting than I thought. Though I never really thought of her, I always kind of considered her as a good but too emotional doctor. And I was not good at dealing with emotions and emotional people.

"And are you succeeding ?", she asked, rising an eyebrow while smiling more broadly to me.

That smile was pretty beautiful. How came I never realised it before ? "Sometimes I do. Sometimes I fail." I replied, flashing her one of my own smile.

We looked in each other eyes for a second and she took a seat next to me. "I was planning to eat dinner but you seem to already be at the after-dinner drink." She was pointing with her eyes at my empty glass. Her gaze crossed mine and it made me feel self-conscious. She obviously understood that I had much more than one drink.

I smiled sympathetically to let her know that I was okay. "I will follow you and take a drink. It's been a long day for me too." She sounded nice and jovial but I could sense she was acting compatient.

She called the barmaid and ordered a mojito. "I would have pictured you preferring the sex on the beach" I said teasingly.

She looked at me with her fierce blue eyes. "I like a lot of different things".

I raised an eyebrow questioningly. Was she teasing me back ?

"Plus, I love how my tongue moves when I pronounce "mojito"." She was smirking and definitely teasing back.

"Let me test it." I hailed the barmaid. "Another mojito, please."

I looked back at her. "You're right. Love the feeling." I insisted on the last sentence while making her my charming look.

A little laugh came out of her and she turned her gaze away.

We sipped our drinks in silence. I started feeling dizzy and it made me even more interested in the presence of the lovely blond next to me. I turned to face her. She was still not finished with her drink. I betted she was not used to drink.

Sensing I was looking at her, she raised her face. "Your eyes are telling me you should stop drinking."

"Is that all my eyes are telling you ?" Though I had a bold nature, the booze was making me wild and I was feeling like making a move on her.

"I'm not sure." Cameron was not sure she wanted to go there. The fact that her young and beautiful colleague was flirting with her made her uncomfortable. She started fidgeting and took another sip of her mojito.

The blond was playing hard to get. There was nothing my mind liked more than a challenge.

"Did you ever tried girls ?", I blurted out casually while looking straight in her eyes with a side smirk.

Taken by surprise, Cameron spitted out the liquid she was drinking. She looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. After a second to gather herself, she answered me sheepishly. "No"


End file.
